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Estonia
Overview Estonia is one of the 3 Baltic states and has a population of 1.34 million and the capital is in Tallinn. The Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Vabariik), is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. The Estonians are one of the group Finnic people,and are thus related to Ingrians, Vepsians and Finns. Like the other Baltic states, Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic. It is sub-devided into 15 counties. The capital and largest city is Tallinn. The nation is a member of the European Union, Eurozone and NATO. Estonia is listed as a "High-Income Economy" by the World Bank and as an "advanced economy" by the International Monetary Fund and the country is an OECD member. The United Nations also lists Estonia as a developed country with a Human Development Index of "Very High". Estonia has the highest GDP per person among former Soviet Union. The country is also respected and highly rated for it's high levels of press freedom, economic freedom, democracy and political freedom and public education. Tallinn's Old Town was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is alsp ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world. Tallin became the European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku, Finland. History .]] Estonia’s Committee of Elders of the Maapäev passed the Estonian Declaration of Independence in Pärnu on 23 February and in Tallinn on 24 February 1918 to pre-empt the advancing German forces and the hostile Russian Bolsheviks as they advanced on the interim United Baltic Duchy. After winning the Estonian War of Independence against both the competing forces of Soviet Russia and the German Freikorps and the Germanic Baltische Landeswehr volunteers and singing the Tartu Peace Treaty on 2 February 1920. The Republic of Estonia was recognised (de jure) by Finland on 7 July 1920 it gradually gained political recognition between 1920 and 1922. The declaration of independence in the town of Pärnu, on 23 February in 1918, is captured on one of the first images of the new republic. Estonia was a democracy,but the parliament (The Riigikogu) was disbanded after popular riots, in 1934, caused by the economic chaos of the Great Depression and was then ruled by decree by Konstantin Päts, who became President in 1938, when democracy was restored. Estonia was a victim of the German–Soviet Nonaggression Pact of August 1939 after Stalin gained Hitler's agreement to divide Eastern Europe into "spheres of special interest" according to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol. The Estonian government was forced under force of arms to give their assent to an agreement which allowed the USSR to establish military bases and station 25,000 troops on Estonian soil for supposed "mutual defence” on 24 September 1939. On 12 June 1940, the order for a total military blockade on Estonia was given to the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Later that year, the USSR annexed Estonia. and the Baltics ethnic Germans.]] There were, at the time of Soviet occupation in 1940, approximately 4,300 Estonian Jews. The Soviets scraped all ethic rights and The Jewish Cultural Autonomy was immediately abolished and Jewish cultural institutions were closed down. About 350–500 Jews were deported or killed by the Soviets, while almost 1,000 killed by the Nazis. Nazi Germany's Einsatzgruppe-A and local collaborators hunted down and killedboth the Jews, Communists and Roma people. Many Estonians joined the Nazi armies and local malitias of there own free will. In January 1962 a war crimes trial was held in Tartu, Estonia SSR. The Pro-Nazi colaborators Juhan Jüriste, Karl Linnas and Ervin Viks were accused of murdering 12,000 civilians in the notoriouse Tartu concentration camp. The Soviets re-annexed Estoniain late 1944 and thousands were again deported. this sparked a guerrilla war against the occupieing Soviet authorities in Estonia which lasted into the early 1950s by Metsavennad "forest brothers", who consisted mostly of Estonian war veterans of both the German and Finnish armies as well as some civilians and scandinavian volenteers. About 125- 200,000 were deported, 20,000 enslaved in ‘Labour camps’ and about 75,000 were sent to Gulags by the Soviets. Within the few weeks that followed the take over, almost all the remaining rural households were collectivized. About deported died and the other half were not allowed to return until the early 1960s. the city of Paldiski which was entirely closed to all public access. The city had a support base for the Soviet Baltic Fleet's submarines. The country was badly damaged and depopulated by the variose wars and perges and took a long time to recover. By 1980, it was a leading Soviet republic, but was now about 20-25% Russia (plus many Ukranians and some Byelorussians) and politicaly repressed. Geography and climate Estonia has over 1,400 lakes. Most of them are very small, with the largest, Lake Peipus, being 3,555 km2 /1,373 sq mi. There are many rivers in the country. The longest of them are Võhandu 162 km/101 mi, Pärnu 144 km/89 mi, and Põltsamaa 135 km/84 mi. Estonia has numerous fenlands, marshes and bogs.the The WWF considders the Estonia belongs to the ecoregion of the 'Sarmatic mixed forests'. The highest piont in Estonia is Suur Munamägi. The weather is perticuly cold, windy and bitter in Winter with the heavy snow cover, which is deepest in the south-eastern part of Estonia, usually lasting from mid-December to late March. Also see- *Ingria *Baltic Republics of the Soviet Union *United Baltic Duchy *The Jewish Holocaust and Roma Porajmos in the Baltic states *Latvian SSR of 1919-1920 *Baltic Way *Baltics are Waking Up *Singing Revolution *Baltic food * The Alliance of Baltic Countries (ABC) * Baltic Area in km2 list *The Ethno-genesis of the Baltic peoples Note: This page is not done yet! Please help the wiki by expanding it! Category:Countries